Babysitting is Fun?
by Littlefearie
Summary: Lucy needs a new job and the only one available is a one month babysitting job. She wants to do it solo but how could you do that when your partner is Natsu? Now Lucy has two problems: babysitting the young boy and babysitting Natsu.
1. A job is what I need!

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the lack of new stories – school work got in the way. For those who have read my Sasunaru fic, I already have the next chapter in He's weird when He's drunk written out it should be up soon. Anyways enjoy Babysitting is Fun? ~StarxWing**

Chapter One

Lucy sat at her usual stool at the front of the Fairy Tail bar where Mira was busy cleaning the various empty glasses that littered the counter top from the night before. Absently twirling her gold bracelet, Lucy motioned Mira over to her. Placing the glass that she was cleaning down carefully Mira walked over to the unusually glum looking Lucy.

"Is there anything I can do for you Lucy? You don't look like yourself today." Mira asked giving her famous motherly smile

"Yeah, I was hoping that there were any new missions today?"

"Oh is your rent due soon?" Mira asked while searching under the counter for the mission book.

"Not yet but I find that it's better to have money put away for emergencies." Lucy said smiling a bit. "You never know when a sale might arise."

Mira laughed along with her friend from under the counter.

"A ha!" Mira proclaimed after five minutes of searching – which caused Lucy to jump a bit of her stool. Popping back up, she held a large brown leather bound book in her hands. "Found it."

"How could you have lost that under there?" Lucy asked, completely shocked that something so large could fit underneath the small counter.

"Oh you'll be surprised what gets lost down here." Mira answered while flipping to the newest page of the book. "So what kind of mission are you and Natsu going on now?" A mischievous smirk appeared upon her face replacing the warm smile.

"None. I'm not going on a mission with Natsu this time." Lucy replied trying to read the requests underside down.

"Ehhh?" Mira gasped, leaning onto the book covering the pages that Lucy was trying to read. "But you always go on missions with Natsu, why not now?"

"Because I actually want to receive the full reward amount without having most of it going to repair damages that HE caused."

"Well I guess that makes sense..." Mira said returning to her upright position. "But Natsu is going to be very upset that you decided to do one without him."

"Naw," Lucy said waving away Mira's concern, "he'll get over it. So what kind missions did we get?" Her eyes reverting back to the book.

"Well..." Mira scanned the various of jobs looking for the high paying ones, "There's a job to fight a ten foot ogre that has been stealing cows from a village's farms."

"Okay... what's the reward like?"

"You get to keep the ogre's eyeballs."

Both girls grimace at the thought.

"Maybe something else?" Mira said fumbling through the other requests.

"Yes please Mira." Lucy said swiping a sweat drop from her forehead.

After some more flipping through pages, Mira's expression turned to the one that Lucy had worn before. "I'm sorry Lucy but there are no new missions here for you."

"Are you sure Mira?" Lucy asked, reaching for the book hoping to find one that Mira might have missed.

"Sadly yes. All of the other missions require more than one person to accomplish." Mira said sadly as she watched Lucy furiously scan through the various pages of the book that held smaller versions of the mission board papers. Mira knew that in there was only jobs for killing high levelled monsters, painting houses, a couple of escort requests but nothing that would suit the young mage.

Throwing her hands up into the air in defeat, Lucy slumped lower into her stool. Seeing her friend's defeated state Mira couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for Lucy's depression. Casting her eyes downward, Mira saw what seemed to be a piece of white paper sticking out of the bottom of the counter.

"Hmm what's this?" Mira muttered to herself, bending down to investigate.

"Huh?" Lucy picked herself up to look over the counter where Mira had disappeared under. "Did you find something Mira?" She asked, watching the top of the white haired beauty struggle to pull the paper.

"A HA! Got it!" Mira proclaimed after finally wrenching the paper free from its imprisonment. Laughing at Mira's silly behaviour Lucy waited for her friend to answer her question.

"It's a job!" Mira squealed, shoving the tiny paper into Lucy's face.

**WANTED**

**A BABYSITTER FOR OUR DARLING YOUNG SON, DYLAN, FOR A MONTH. WE HAVE A LONG BUSINESS TRIP TO TAKE AND NEED SOMEONE RESPONSIBLE, FUN, AND GOOD WITH CHILDREN.**

**WILL BE PAID HANDSOMLY.**

**PLEASE CONTRACT US AT .XXXX**

**TAI AND SERENA JONES**

As she read each word, Lucy's face got brighter and brighter.

"Mira! This is prefect!" Lucy squealed.

"I'm glad we found something for you."

"Yeah, now to just call them." Lucy said while getting up from her stool. "Hopefully the job is not taken yet."

"Are you sure you're not going to tell Natsu about this job?" Mira asked again.

Lucy shook her head as she stuffed the paper into her bag. "No. They asked for someone responsible and Natsu is anything but that."

"You're right." Mira said giggling at the thought of Natsu babysitting. "Have fun Lucy!" Mira shouted at her friend's retreating back.

"I will!" Lucy yelled back.

Turning back to her dishes Mira saw her younger sister Lisanna smiling at her.

"Nee, Onee-chan you're still going to tell Natsu, aren't you?" Lisanna asked knowing full well the kind of trouble her older sister was prone to.

"Maybe." Mira said with an all-knowing smile. "It will be a fun month."

**Oh boy, Mira's up to trouble again. Like it? Hate it? Review!**


	2. Meeting the Clients

**A/N: Lucy better start running to make it in time for that job. I wonder what the Jones is like. Well I already know but you guys will have to read to find out! XD ENJOY AND REVIEW!**

Lucy sprinted as fast as she could from the guild to reach the house where the clients lived but she didn't realize how far it was from the city. She slowed to a brisk walk after running for twenty minutes. The clients lived outside the city near the hills. She walked for another ten minutes – at this point she was out of breath and sweating.

"Urgh at this rate I'm not going to reach there in time." Lucy said to herself, her shoulders slumping.

Behind her, the sounds of approaching horses pulling a carriage became louder. Lucy motioned them to go around her since now the sideways and the road became one. The carriage pulled up beside her with an old man in his seventies driving it. He wore a farmer's hat that dipped in the front to shade his pale green eyes. From beneath the hat, a long silver braid hung over his broad shoulders. He wore a long sleeve blue shirt and beige shorts. The old man raised a bushy silver eyebrow at the panting Lucy.

"Oi girlie," The old man's voice was rugged and deep. Lucy looked at him while still walking. "You need a lift?"

Now it was Lucy's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Now don't you get any ideas," He said when he saw Lucy's expression. "I ain't into that sort of stuff. It's just you look like you need a lift."

Lucy looked at the old man before smiling. "Yeah, that would be nice." She said hopping into the seat next to him.

The old man gave her a tight smile before putting the horses back into a trot.

"So where you heading to?" He asked never taking his eyes off the road.

"I'm going to the Jones' mansion to speak to them about a job request I found at my guild."

"Ah, so you one of those mages from Fairy Tail." He said looking down at her right hand.

Lucy smiled. "Yup. My name is Lucy Heartfilla. I'm a Celestial Mage."

The old man laughed. "So you're the daughter of the Great Heartfilla huh?"

"Well not anymore…he kind of disowned me." Lucy said her eyes focused on her hands.

The old man pinched the bridge of his nose – angry at himself for bringing up a touchy subject. Reluntally, he patted Lucy's head – her glaze focusing back on him.

"Listen there's no need to worry 'bout those kinds of stuff okay. Your Pa is missing out and that 'ain't your fault got it?"

Lucy nodded, a small smile dancing upon her lips. They continued to ride in comfortable silence as they drew nearer to Lucy's destination. It was then that something dawned on her.

"Say mister, you never told me _your_ name." Lucy addressed her mysterious driver, smiling.

The old man gave Lucy a toothy grin. "Name's Thomas." He said finally.

Lucy looked towards the sky and smiled. "Nice to meet you...Thomas."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When they reached the mansion, Thomas let out a low whistle. The house was two stories high made form a pale grey stone with large French style windows. The pathway towards the house was layer with light yellow and black stones. Surrounding the house were trees of various types including lemon, orange and apple trees with flower brushes placed everywhere.

"Wow your clients are rich," Thomas said, still staring at the massive house. "What's the job you got to do?"

"Babysitting." Lucy said.

Thomas turned his head to Lucy so fast that he yelped in slight pain.

"A babysitting job?" He asked, rubbing his sore neck.

"Yup." Lucy said smiling at Thomas' shocked expression.

"Aieeee, such a waste for a mage 'ain't it?" Thomas asked watching Lucy pat the horse.

"A job's a job right?" Lucy asked walking over to Thomas' side.

A hearty low laugh escaped his lips.

"Ah wise words for someone so young." Thomas said still smiling. "Well have fun Lucy."

"I will. Thank you for giving me a ride." Lucy said before giving Thomas a kiss on the cheek.

A slight blush could be seen from beneath Thomas' scruffy white beard. He chuckled rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Aw now you got an old man blushing."

Lucy giggled waving to Thomas as he turned the carriage around. Taking a deep breath, she buzzed the intercom.

***Beep*** "Hello, Jones residence. Who is this?"

"Lucy from Fairy Tail. I'm here about the job."

"Yes, please come in." ***Beep***

The large white iron gates opened slowly.

"A-ah thank you!" Lucy said to the intercom.

She strolled past the various workers in white uniforms, smelling the fresh fragments of the flowers and fruit trees. Pausing to glaze upon the white and blue roses that grew near the main door, Lucy did not notice the middle aged woman standing in front of her.

"Enjoying the flowers?" the woman asked.

Lucy jumped, straightening herself to meet the woman's eyes. The woman looked much younger than Thomas, mostly likely in her thirties. Her dull red hair made her grey eyes shine brighter against her tan complexion. She was short, only reaching Lucy's shoulders, wearing what seem to be a uniform of a white blouse with a crest of blue and white roses on a purple background and a long brown pleaded skirt. The woman smiled.

"Miss Lucy I presume?"

"Yes."

"My name is Isabella, the housekeeper. Please follow me." Isabella said walking back inside the house.

Lucy followed, hoping to not embarrass herself any more in front of the clients. She was lead through a long corridor with paintings on each side. Isabella stopped in front of a tall brass double door with the same crest that Isabella wore on it.

"Go on in. They're waiting for you." Isabella said, smiling.

Pushing the doors open, Lucy saw a man and a woman sitting on a red couch with a small table with teacups and tiny cakes in front of them. It was the man who noticed her presence first.

"Welcome Miss Lucy from Fairy Tail. Thank you for taking up our request though it's a little unusual for a guild job." The man said, shaking her hand.

His bright light blue eyes sparkled as he smiled at Lucy. There were small wrinkles around his eyes showing his age along with the tiny amount of grey hairs within his dark blonde. His wife, who was drinking tea when Lucy came in, smiled. She looked quite tall even while sitting with long dark green hair that went to her hips and clear turquoise eyes that resembled pure water.

"Please," Mr. Jones said leading Lucy to the opposite couch. "Tell us about yourself."

"Well my name is Lucy – but you already know that," Lucy mumbled the last part, realizing her mistake. "I'm seventeen and an only child. I live on my own in an apartment house near the river. Oh! I'm a Celestial mage with ten gold and four silver keys." She said proudly.

Mrs. Jones smiled wider after Lucy's short biography. Slightly nudging her husband, she poured Lucy a cup of tea.

"So Lucy, have you ever worked with kids before?" Mrs. Jones asked while handing Lucy the cup.

"If you count looking after my teammates babysitting, then yes."

Mrs. Jones giggled. "Yes I know how you feel. Sometimes my husband could be very childish too."

She said pointing to her husband who was stacking sugar cubes with an intense look. Lucy giggled into her hand when Mr. Jones stuck out his tongue at the side of his mouth when he was adding the last sugar cube. It reminded her of Natsu and Happy when they played Jenga. They would get so angry when the pieces felled down. It was comical to watch. At a distance of course since the fallen pieces would be thrown around after – mostly Happy's doing. Almost every game they played turned violent after. It was ridiculous. A sudden knock on the door brought Lucy's attention back to Mrs. Jones. Isabella's head peeked inside.

"I brought him, Mrs. Jones."

"Yes, yes bring him in." Mrs. Jones said waving the housekeeper inside.

Isabella smiled and pushed the door fully open to reveal a little boy hiding slightly behind her skirt. His big turquoise eyes appeared scared and unsure from behind the skirt.

"Come here Dylan. Mommy and Daddy have someone they'll like you to meet." Mrs. Jones said pulling the boy towards her.

The said boy made a side glance at Lucy.

"She's going to be your babysitter while Mommy and Daddy go on their trip." Mrs. Jones continued. "So don't cause her any trouble okay."

The small boy nodded. After seeing that the nod was genuine Mrs. Jones gave her son a kiss on the forehead.

"That's my boy." Mr. Jones said cheerfully giving his son a pat on his head. "Well then Miss Lucy you can take him today. We'll be back in one month's time." Mr. Jones said.

"ONE MONTH?" Lucy repeated shocked.

"Yes, didn't it say that we would be gone for a month?" Mr. Jones asked puzzled at Lucy's outburst.

"Well I guess it might have..." Lucy mumbled, hating that she didn't finish reading the rest of the flyer.

"Oh but you'll still take the job right?" Mrs. Jones asked her brow scrounged a bit.

"O-of course." Lucy answered weakly.

"Thank you. This means a lot to us." Mrs. Jones said taking Lucy's hand.

Lucy smiled.

"Yes so Dylan will go with you to your house and if he needs anything just call this number," Mrs. Jones said pulling out a business card. "This has the house number and the number of the hotel we'll be staying at." She said handing Lucy the card.

Lucy looked it over and nodded before stuffing it into her back pocket. Lucy extended her hand to Dylan who jumped away from it. A little hurt Lucy kneeled to meet Dylan's height. His big turquoise eyes showed great fear while watching Lucy. She gave him a small smile.

"Don't be afraid. My name is Lucy and you'll be living with me until your parents come back from their trip okay. You'll have lots of fun I promise. I'm part of Fairy Tail – you know that guild right?" Dylan nodded, his eyes widening when she mention a guild. "Well I promise that you get to visit it every day okay." Lucy said, smiling to see the boy's face lighten up.

Lucy extended her hand to Dylan again. He hesitated a bit but finally took hold of it. Mr. Jones let out a sigh of relief. Lucy returned to her full height, Dylan's hand still holding onto hers.

"I guess we'll be going then." Lucy said.

Mr. Jones nodded. "Isabella has already packed Dylan's things into a carriage that will take you home."

Lucy bowed and led Dylan to the doors. He looked back to wave goodbye to his parents.

"Have fun Dylan!" Mr. Jones said while Mrs. Jones waved back, a tight smile on her face.

Walking towards the gate, all the workers stopped to wave goodbye to Dylan – wishing him a safe trip and to have lots of fun. He waved to each one of them with a sad look on his face. Lucy noticed, knowing a little bit of how he felt. When she was younger, the servants were pretty much her family. Helping Dylan into the carriage, she motioned the closest worker to her.

"By any chance can I have a flower to give to Dylan? Just so he can have a piece of home with him." Lucy whispered.

The worker smiled. Running over to the roses bushed at the entrance of the mansion, he cut a blue rose and a white rose. Bringing them back to Lucy he whispered something into her ear. She nodded and mouth a 'thank you' to him before hopping into the carriage herself. As they were leaving, Dylan looked outside his window watching the retreating house.

"You know, just because you're leaving doesn't mean you won't come back again." Lucy said.

Dylan nodded and sat back down. Lucy gave a sad smile and slowly removed the two roses from her lap. Dylan's face appeared shocked when Lucy handed them to him. His glaze shifted from the flowers to Lucy's face. She smiled.

"The workers wanted you to have these to remind you of home."

Dylan took the flowers from her. Their colours were still rich with no thorns upon them. They were prefect.

"Thank you." Dylan whispered.

Lucy giggled. "No problem buddy." She said patting his light green hair. "Tomorrow we go to Fairy Tail first thing in the morning."

Still looking at the two roses in his small hands Dylan nodded. A small smile on his lips.

**A/N: So we finally met Dylan and the Jones but why is Dylan so quiet and shy? I wonder if meeting everyone at Fairy Tail would open him up. And what would Natsu have to say? D: Find out next chapter but REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW first! Oh Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!**


	3. Welcome to the Guild!

**A/N: I tried to write longer chapters from now on but based on my school work and portfolio for a concept art program I might not update as quickly. Please bear with me until February where I shall have more time to write. Anyways please enjoy chapter three! Probably one of my favourite chapters since we get to see more of Dylan's personality. Love StarxWing~**

The morning sun rose, its light shining through the windows of Natsu and Happy's house laminating every nook and canny; from the finished mission posters to Lucy's maid costume. Happy's eyes twitched at the sudden change of light causing him to lazily open one eye at a time. He sat up slowly stretching his tiny blue body upward to the ceiling then rubbed his face with his paws. Getting out of his hammock, he floated below to Natsu's landing on his best friend and adoptive father's face. Still half asleep, Happy poked Natsu's cheeks.

"Naaaatsuuu waaakkee uupp. Its morning, we have to go to the guild."

His words didn't reach the sleeping dragon slayer though since Natsu only grumbled and rolled over to his side. Crawling around to face Natsu again, Happy readied himself. Taking in as much air as his lungs would fill Happy let out a yell.

"NATSUUUUU WAAAKE UPPPP!"

"Gah!" Natsu shouted, tumbling out of his hammock onto the floor with a loud thump. Groaning Natsu slowly sat up to face his hovering feline.

"What was that about Hap?" Natsu asked rubbing the back of his neck.

"Its morning Natsu, we got to go to the guild remember?" Happy said flying over to Natsu knocking on his forehead.

It took Natsu a minute for everything to sink in. He jumped – his normal energy level back - with his fist pumping into the air.

"It's time for a new mission!" He yelled his smile wide enough to see all his teeth.

"Aye Sir!" Happy shouted in agreement.

Running into the bathroom, Natsu stripped out of his black boxers and hopped into the shower. Happy flew in after him landing on the counter to brush his fur and teeth. After five minutes, Natsu emerged with a towel wrapped around his head and lower body. He took his toothbrush from Happy who had already put toothpaste on it.

"Natsu you got to move faster." Happy said from his hammock while adjusting his green bag over his shoulders.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Natsu shouted, struggling with getting on his pants. Fully dressed Natsu ran out the door with Happy trailing behind him.

"Natsu you forgot to lock the door!" Happy shouted.

Stopping in his tracks, Natsu turned and ran back to his house to lock it then catching up with Happy again. "Don't want anyone stealing our stuff right Happy?" Natsu said smiling to his companion.

"Aye Sir!"

"Okay I'm all fired up! Lets race to the guild."

"Aye. GO!" Happy yelled after flying off leaving a surprised Natsu behind.

"So he wants to play dirty?" Natsu said stretching out his limbs before breaking into a full sprint. "I can play dirty too!"

He sprinted towards the city leaving a cloud of dust behind him. Within five minutes Natsu could see Happy just a few feet in front of him and smirked. _"He could at least make this hard for me."_ Building up speed Natsu rounded the corner and enter the city. It was early in the morning and only the market vendors were out setting up their shops allowing him to run at top speed without causing any damages. Natsu looked up again to see if he had passed Happy and saw him flying behind him.

"Hey Happy you got to pick up the pace!" Natsu shouted to Happy.

"No fair Natsu!" Happy shouted back flapping his wings faster.

It was no use though since Natsu was already far ahead becoming a tiny dot. He turned the corner, the guild in full sight he blasted towards the doors knowing that he beat Happy. Reaching his arms outward, he shoved open the guild's door almost breaking them from the hinges. Everyone inside stopped what they were doing to welcome their most destructive and loveable member.

"Hey Natsu!" They shouted.

Natsu smiled his usual grin while walking in the guild. Their welcomes always cheered him up – no matter what. Even Gray's insults made him happy though he would never tell him that.

"Yo Flamehead!" Gray yelled from their typical table at the back of the guild.

As usual, the ice mage had stripped off his shirt without realizing it. Juvia who was sitting adjacent to him flushed from his exposure.

"Ummm Gray-sama..." Juvia started to say before Natsu cut her off.

"Who are you calling Flamehead, you damn stripper!"

"Who are you calling a stripper?" Gray yelled back, standing up from his seat.

"Gray-sama your clothes." Juvia said pointing to Gray's topless torso. A light blush colouring her cheeks.

"Gaaah!" Gray yelled searching for his discarded clothes.

Natsu smirked leaving the two to speak with Mira about a new mission when he saw a familiar body of blue fur sitting in front of Mira with a green bag attracted to his back.

"Happy?"

"Hi Natsu." Happy said turning on the stool a glass of milk in his hands.

"How did you get here before me? I was sure I was first." Natsu asked completely dumbfounded.

"Oh Happy flew in through one of the open windows about ten seconds before you came." Mira explained placing another glass of milk to replace Happy's suddenly empty one.

"That's cheating!" Natsu shouted.

"No, Happy was just using his skills to his advantage Natsu." Mira pointed out.

"Aye." Happy said picking up the new glass that Mira gave him.

Natsu sighed he knew he couldn't stay mad at Happy. Happy won fair and square plus the little guy deserved to win every once and a while. Plopping on the stool next to Happy, he smiled.

"Okay I admit defeat." Natsu said in mock sadness.

Mira laughed while taking Happy's second empty glass. "So what can I do for you Natsu?" Mira asked a mischievous smile on her face.

"We come to get a new mission of course." Natsu answered completely missing the smirk on Mira's face.

Knocking on the side of her head Mira giggled. "Of course, it's mission day. Let's see what we got for you." She said before disappearing from beneath the counter only to remerge a minute later.

"Okay," Mira said opening the huge brown book to the newest filled page. "So we have a lady who needs someone to find the person who stole her mother's necklace."

Natsu pulled a face. "I got to tell you Mira that doesn't sound...fun."

"I'm sorry Natsu but that's the only one person job we have." Mira explained the smile still on her face.

Natsu raised a pink eyebrow. "What do you mean one person? Mira you know we always do a three person job." He said holding up three fingers.

"Yes I know." The smile growing a little wider.

"Soooo why the one person job?" Natsu asked.

"Cause Natsu, you're only one person." Mira said.

Natsu's eyebrows twitched. Getting answers out of Mira was like pulling teeth sometimes.

"I understand that much Mira but why only a ONE PERSON mission?"Natsu asked again stressing for the answer.

"That's because Lucy already took a mission." Lisanna answered appearing at Natsu's side.

"Lisanna!" Mira whined, upset that her sister ruined her little game.

"WHAT?" Both Natsu and Happy yelled, getting up from their stools.

"Yeah it's true Natsu. Lucy took a solo job yesterday." Mira added slightly happy from seeing his reaction to the news.

"SHE WHAT!" Natsu's voice rose higher.

"Why would Lucy do that? We always do missions together." Happy said hoping to calm Natsu down a bit.

"Maybe she just wanted to do her own job?" Lisanna suggested.

"Well she better have a good reason when she gets here." Natsu said surprisingly calm. He sat down on his stool again, his eyes completely focused on the entrance doors. Next to him Happy mimicked his position. Both sisters shared a look mentally wishing Lucy good luck.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Achoo." Lucy sneezed rubbing her nose. Dylan looked at her with worried eyes. She had sneezed about five times since they left her apartment and another three times after passing the men on the boat who said hello to them. It was a bit chilly and what Lucy was wearing wasn't the best for the current climate. She wore her usual outfit since all her jeans were put to wash. Dylan on the other hand was a little warmer than Lucy since he wore a long sleeve white shirt with a red patch over the heart and long dark brown shorts. His light green hair was worn short and messy tucked under a teal and beige paper boy cap. Right now they were walking towards Fairy Tail while Lucy described the people he was going to meet.

"Now where was I? Oh yeah Levy – she's about the sweetest girl you would ever meet Dylan. Even though she's small she's pretty strong and loves to read. Her room is just filled with books. I don't even know how she sleeps. Then there's Erza, the strongest girl in the all of Fairy Tail. The bad guys know they don't stand a chance when she arrives." Lucy said slashing and kicking imaginary bad guys. Dylan laughed - he was excited to meet this Ezra person. "There's Gray who is an ice mage so he can make anything out of ice though he has an awkward habit but you'll find out about that later." She added when she saw Dylan's confused expression. "Of course can't talk about Gray without talking about Juvia. She joined Fairy Tail a while back but she fit in quickly. She's a water mage which is similar to Gray but equally as strong. Then there's my partners Natsu and Happy..."

"Happy?" Dylan asked.

"Happy is a flying blue cat who loves fish and annoying me. Natsu is his best friend and a dragon slayer who is a destructive, loud, obnoxious, childish..." Lucy stopped herself noticing she was rambling. "Well he's not that bad. He has his good points like being loyal and friendly. He's also the person who brought me to Fairy Tail in the first place." Lucy said smiling on the last note.

Dylan smiled with her. He couldn't wait to see Fairy Tail up close.

_"I'm going to meet such amazing and strong mages. They sound so cool! The way Lucy talks about them is like they're like a big family."_ Dylan thought. _"A big family..."_ His walking slowed. _"If they are so close already would they like me? I don't have any magic powers. I can't control water or ice or fly or anything."_ He came to a complete stop - his smile gone. Lucy who was walking ahead stopped too.

"What if they don't like me?"

Lucy kneeled in front of Dylan. "Dylan? What's wrong?" Lucy asked concerned about his sudden mood change.

"What if they don't like me?" Dylan asked in a whisper.

"Who won't like you?"

"The people at the guild."

"What would make you think they won't like you?"

Dylan sniffed a bit. "Cause I don't have any magic powers like everyone else."

"That's crazy! No one would care that you're not a mage. They'll like you for who you are – that is the Fairy Tail way." Lucy said wiping the tear stains from his cheeks.

"Really?"

"I promise." She stood up offering her hand to him. "If they don't I'll beat them up for you." She added hoping to get the boy to smile again. She was successful. Dylan took hold of Lucy's hand, deeply hoping that her words were true. It took them ten minutes to finally reach Fairy Tail and Dylan couldn't believe his eyes – it was HUGE! What caught his eye the most was the giant symbol on the green flag.

"That's the symbol of Fairy Tail. Every Fairy Tail mage has it on them, see." Lucy explained showing her right hand to reveal a pink version of the symbol. Dylan grabbed her hand inspecting the tattoo closer. He poked it and retracted his hand quickly thinking it might hurt him if he wasn't a mage but nothing happened. No shock of lighting or a blaze of fire like he expected. He looked up at Lucy who only smiled. Focusing back on her hand he traced the symbol. For some reason he found himself smiling as well.

"Are you ready to go in?" Lucy asked glad to see him so excited.

"Yeah!" Dylan shouted with a smile that took up his whole face.

"Dylan welcome to Fairy Tail!" Lucy said pushing the double doors wide open.

Everyone inside stopped to see which member was coming in and smiled when they saw Lucy.

"Lucy!" they cheered.

"Hey Everyone, I would like you all to meet Dylan." Lucy said moving aside to let the members see Dylan.

Dylan stood there awkwardly tugging at his dark brown shorts. There were a lot of people watching him – something that he wasn't used to. He was about to cower behind Lucy until...

"Welcome Dylan!" They roared.

_"They greeted me just like Lucy! She was right!"_ He thought giving everyone a big smile and a wave.

"Lu-chan!" Levy said calling the two over to her table.

"Levy-chan! How's it going?" Lucy asked sitting down next to Levy while Dylan sat next to Lucy.

"Nothing much just waiting for someone to finish her next chapter." Levy said nudging her best friend.

"Oh don't remind me. I'm stuck on this one scene and it's going nowhere." Lucy said. "Though I would like you to meet Dylan. I'm babysitting him for a month until his parents come back from their trip."

Dylan leaned forward so that Levy could get a better look at him. She was just what Lucy described her as and that electric blue hair suited her. Levy leaned to meet his eyes and let out a high squeal.

"Oh my God! Lucy he's adorable! I mean look at those turquoise eyes! He's gonna be a looker when he grows up."

"You think so?" Lucy asked giggling into her hand. A tug on her shirt caused her to turn to Dylan.

"What's a looker?" He asked in a whisper.

"It means that you're very handsome." Lucy explained.

"Yup. Girls are going to be falling for you buddy." Levy added tapping his nose.

"Ew girls." Dylan said though the blush at the tips of his ears gave him away.

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwww." Both girls said giving him a tight hug.

"What is this love feast about?" Ezra asked appearing in her usual armour.

"Erza! How was your mission?" Levy asked still hugging Dylan.

_"This is Erza?"_ Dylan thought looking upon the red haired woman clad in armour. She didn't look as scary as Lucy described her. Her eyes fell upon him and he felt terrified. _"She knows I'm not a mage. Will she kick me out? No, Lucy said she would protect me right but against the strongest person in the guild."_

"Who is this?" She asked and Dylan could feel himself shrinking.

"Oh this is Dylan. Lucy is babysitting him for a month until his parents come back." Levy answered patting Dylan's head.

"Erza I think you're scaring him a bit." Lucy said watching Dylan attempt to wiggle out of Levy's grasp.

"Ehhh! I'm sorry!" Erza said to Dylan moving in closer to him. "Please feel free to punch me."

She turned her cheek awaiting the boy to punch. Dylan without hesitation threw a punch that didn't have much power behind it. Both Levy and Lucy shared a gasp as they waited for Erza's reaction – most people won't dare to punch Erza when she said it was okay. Erza blinked touching her cheek. Dylan opened his eyes which were closed when he initial threw the punch and started panicking.

"I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry!" He said hoping that she wasn't mad at him. Erza reached for Dylan. "I'm sorry! Don't kill me!" She patted his head.

"You got guts kids I like that." She said smiling. "And a good right punch maybe next time I can teach you how to make your punches stronger."

Dylan only nodded before Erza walked away. He turned to Lucy shaking a bit. "I thought...I thought I was going to die." He admitted.

"No, Erza wouldn't have killed you. I can't believe you actually punch her." Lucy said laughing.

"Yeah that was surprising." Levy agreed joining Lucy in laughing.

"And she said she would teach me how to punch!" Dylan said excited that he made such a good impression on a high ranking mage.

"Ummm yeah I don't think your parents would like it if you learned that." Lucy said.

Dylan's face fell – he really wanted to learn how to fight. Levy frown at Lucy mouthing "Come on let him try" to which Lucy shook her head at. If she let him get hurt then what kind of babysitter would she be? Lucy sighed and looked towards the bar making eye contact with Mira who waved frantically.

"Hey Dylan are you hungry?" Lucy asked while waving back to Mira.

"A little bit." Dylan answered looking up at Lucy.

"Well then let's go meet Mira!" Lucy said grabbing his hand but jerked backwards. "Levy you got to let go of him sometime." Lucy said over her shoulder.

"Awwww can't you just go get food and bring it here?"

"Levy..."

"But he's so snugly!" Levy said pulling Dylan into a tighter hug.

"You can snuggle him when we get back. I'm hungry." Lucy said picking up Dylan out of Levy's hold.

"Fine." Levy huffed at Lucy and wave goodbye to Dylan.

As they walked towards the bar various of guild members said hello to Dylan even telling him that they will show him their powers when Lucy brings him back again. He felt like he was on cloud nine. Everyone was being so nice to him even though he didn't have any powers. He didn't really get to socialize with other people except for the workers and his parents so making these many friends was the highlight of his life. By the time they got to the bar he was skipping instead of walking. Lucy smiled at Mira but it faded when she saw the bar maiden's tense face. A sideways glance to her left and Lucy found what made Mira so tense – a brooding Natsu. He was staring intensely at her.

_ "So Mira did tell him greaaat."_

Lucy sat down on a stool three stools away from Natsu and helped Dylan get onto the one on her right. Last thing she wanted was for him to be in the middle of a mad Natsu. Pretending to be paying full attention to Mira, Lucy put on her brightest smile.

"Mira this is Dylan, he's the one who I will be babysitting."

"Well hi there I'm Mira the barkeep and member of Fairy Tail. Did you want something to eat?"

"Yes please."

"Okay what would you like?" Mira asked whipping out her notepad and pen.

"I don't know..." Dylan said his eyes glancing at the unusual pink haired man that was glaring at Lucy.

"How bout I get you a menu?" Mira said walking over to the back room for a menu and to escape the tense aura surrounding Natsu and Lucy.

"So do you like Fairy Tail so far?" Lucy asked mentally cursing Mira for leaving her.

"Yeah! Everyone is really cool...but Lucy...why is that man staring at you?" Dylan asked pointing in Natsu's direction.

Lucy mentally screamed. Of all things to do Dylan had to point at him.

"Yeah Lucy..." Natsu said sounding very angry.

_"Crap he's not using his nickname for me?"_

"Tell him why I'm glaring at you." Natsu stood beside Lucy his body temperature a lot higher than normal. Lucy gulped and slowly turned to face him.

"Dylan this is Natsu the partner I was telling you about. Natsu, Dylan is – "

"I don't care who he is!" Natsu yelled. The whole guild stopped. Never had they seen Natsu angry at Lucy.

"Natsu there's no need to yell in my face." Lucy said trying to stay calm.

"Why did you take a job without me or Happy?" He said a little calmer.

"I just wanted to do something on my own for once is that a crime?"

"No but we always do missions together why do you need to change that?"

"Because I rather get paid for the jobs we complete instead of paying for the damages that _you_ cause." Lucy said poking Natsu's stomach.

He was about to retaliate until Mira reappeared with menus in hand. She carefully placed one in front of Lucy then gave Dylan his. Though he didn't notice since he was too focus on watching Lucy fight with her partner. He didn't like Natsu nor did he like Natsu yelling at Lucy for babysitting him. He was happy that Lucy took up the job because then he wouldn't had came to the guild and meet Levy and everyone else.

_"I hope Lucy beats him up._"

"Now now you two stop fighting. Natsu you have to let Lucy do a solo mission every once in a while that way she can stronger enough to handle herself if you're not around." Mira said.

"It's not that Mira, it's the fact that she didn't bother to tell us." Natsu said his eyes still on Lucy.

Lucy sighed. "I'm sorry Natsu okay. Next time I'll make sure to tell you and Happy before taking a solo mission."

"Good." He said back to his usual self. He slung an arm around Lucy and smiled at Mira. "A fire whiskey Mira."

"Coming right up."

Knocking off Natsu's arm, Lucy picked up her menu. "Do you see anything you like Dylan?" She asked looking at the boy from the corner of her eye noticing that he wasn't even looking at his menu but glaring at Natsu. "Ummm Dylan – "

"Lucy – chan." A familiar voice called.

Lucy turned to find Wendy wearing a bright smile with Carla trailing behind her. "Hi Wendy. Carla."

"I heard that you brought someone to the guild today. I wanted to introduce myself." Wendy said rocking on her feet.

"Yeah Dylan..." Lucy tapped on the boy's shoulder breaking him of his glaring. "This is Wendy."

Dylan turned to face the girl named Wendy. Her smile was the first thing he saw really; so bright and welcoming. She wasn't much older than him but he felt like she had some wisdom to her. Then he noticed on her shoulder was a blue Fairy Tail symbol.

"You're a mage!" Dylan shouted almost falling off his stool.

"Umm...yes..." Wendy said a little flustered at Dylan's volume.

"Really! What kind of powers do you have? How long have you been in the guild? Are you strong like Erza?" Dylan asked at lightning speed. He never knew that kids could be part of a guild too.

"Hahaha Dylan you got to slow down with those questions, you're scaring Wendy." Lucy said noticing how overwhelmed said girl looked.

"Sorry." Dylan mumbled feeling slightly stupid.

"No no it's fine I asked stuff like that when I joined too. Wendy said hoping to reassure him. "I am dragon slayer like Natsu and Gajeel but my element is wind."

"A dragon slayer? You mean you killed dragons?"

"Not really...our power is more like a dragon's though."

"Can you roar?"

"Yup. I can show you sometime if you want?"

"Could you?" Dylan asked excited that he would get to see a dragon slayer's power up close.

"Yeah if you come tomorrow."

"Can I Lucy?"

"Yeah I think that should be fine."

Both Dylan and Wendy smiled. "Well see you tomorrow Dylan." Wendy said waving goodbye as she walked over to Levy's table.

Lucy giggled at Dylan's happy expression. He turned giving her a confused look. "Looks like you made a friend."

"I have?" Dylan thought about it. _"She introduced herself first. I asked her about herself. She asked if I wanted to see her power tomorrow and we both smiled at each other. So that means..."_ He smiled at Lucy. "I made a friend!"

"Hi-five!" Lucy said putting her hand up which Dylan clapped his hand with.

"What's the hi-five about?" Mira asked returning with Natsu's fire whiskey.

"I made a friend!" Dylan said proudly.

"That's great who is it?"

"Her." Dylan said pointing in Wendy's direction. "Tomorrow she's going to show me her dragon slayer powers."

"Sounds like fun. So did you find something in the menu you like?" Mira asked readying her pen and paper again.

"Umm...can I have the cheeseburger and the...strawberry milkshake?"

"Right away. The usual for you Lucy?"

"Yes please Mira." Lucy said giving Mira back the menus.

Mira came back within twenty minutes with their orders – the cheeseburger and strawberry milkshake that Dylan wanted and a chicken salad for Lucy. The burger was so big that Dylan couldn't even hold it in his hands - Lucy had to cut it in half for him. The first bite was a whole new experience for him. The juices dripped out of the meat and pickles trickling down his chin and hands. It was the tastiest thing that he ever had.

"Enjoying it?" Lucy asked hearing his Mmms of delight.

He nodded taking another bite into the burger. He was only able to finish one half of the burger before his stomach was full. Turning around to face the guild he sipped the milkshake trying to see if he could find the other people Lucy was telling him about before. There were two weird looking guys talking to Levy, a woman with long brown hair drinking from a barrel who had two other men cheering her on. Dylan continued to scan the guild until he laid his eyes on a big round man with curly red hair holding a pencil and sketchbook. He hold the pencil over the paper appearing to be thinking then in a fury of swipes and slashes attacked the paper. Dylan watched the intensity of the man's face grow until he stopped admired his work and flipped over to a clean sheet. Seeing that Lucy was too busy talking with her partner Dylan hopped off his stool walking over to the man's table. The man did not notice Dylan's presence and continued to attack the paper. Dylan moved to stand behind the man but still able to see what he was doing. He watched for a while as the man drew what seemed to be a member of the guild, looking closer Dylan was able to make out Levy's face in the drawing. Inching closer hoping to not disturb the man Dylan sat down on the seat next to him. The man glance at Dylan without stopping lowering the sketchbook so that Dylan could see the whole picture – Levy talking with the two guys.

"Do you like it?" the man asked.

"It's pretty. How did you get so good?"

"Practice really."

"I wish I could draw like that..." Dylan whispered resting his head on his arms while still watching the man draw.

The man smiled. "My name is Reedus by the way."

"Dylan."

"So Dylan would you like to learn how to draw?" Reedus asked giving the small boy a smile.

"I-I-I won't be able to draw like that!" Dylan said shaking his head.

"No but with _practice_ you could someday."

Dylan's turquoise eyes twinkled with excitement. Not only did he make his first real friend now he's going to learn how to draw.

"Dylan! It's time to go." Lucy shouted from Levy's table.

Getting up from the table Dylan ran towards Lucy before stopping and running back to Reedus.

"Will you teach me tomorrow?" He asked quickly.

"Yes, just make sure to tell Lucy okay."

"I will." Dylan said running off towards Lucy again making sure to say goodbye to Levy who made sure to make him promise that he would have lunch with her tomorrow. As they left everyone shouted their goodbyes making Dylan wear his biggest smile today.

"That was the best day EVER!" Dylan said flopping onto Lucy's bed, his hat falling off his head landing behind him revealing his messy light green waves.

Lucy laughed walking to the fridge to put away the rest of Dylan's uneaten cheeseburger. She watched with amused eyes as he rolled around on the bed reminiscing about his day. In some ways he reminded her as a younger version of herself all quiet and scared of the world outside the mansion. She was glad that she took this job at least she got to give a kid some new experiences. Stretching Lucy walked over to her drawer to grab a pair of long pink pj pants, a black t-shirt, underwear and a sport bar.

"Dylan I'm going to take a shower can you man the house until I'm finished?"

"Yes." Dylan answered giving Lucy a salute. She giggled at his intense face before locking the washroom door. Within two minutes the sounds of the shower running was heard. Dylan bounced on the bed for a bit humming a song that he heard one of the workers sing in the garden when he heard a tap at the window. He looked over his shoulder and saw Natsu and Happy standing on the windowsill waving at him. Jumping off the bed, Dylan ran to the washroom door bracing himself in front of it with his arms spread wide and a serious look on his face. Natsu smiled pointing to the lock on the window mouthing "open?" but Dylan shook his head. He tried again mouthing "please open the window" and Dylan shook his head harder. Natsu's smile dropped. The kid was being difficult – all he wanted was to get in and Lucy told him not to break in anymore. In all truths he would just break the lock on the window himself but he thought that getting the kid to open it would be easier.

_"There goes that thought."_ Natsu said in his head.

Once again he tried to get the kid to open the window but the kid remained standing in front of the door. Huffing Natsu set his right index finger ablaze burning a hole through the glass above the lock and unlocked it himself. Dylan gasped at Lucy's partners' actions but remained in his stance. He was not going to let him get to Lucy, she put him in charge of protecting the house and he was going to make her proud. Natsu flumped onto the bed bouncing a bit before giving Dylan a sly smile.

"You know you could have just open the window for me, Lucy knows I come in that way all the time." Natsu said matter-of-factly. "Now she's going to be mad about me burning a hole in her window."

"You're not allowed to be here." Dylan squeaked.

"What?" Natsu asked. He had heard what Dylan said thanks to his sensitive hearing but didn't understand why he said it.

"I said you're not allowed to be here." Dylan said a little louder.

"And why is that?" Natsu asked slightly amused by how serious Dylan was.

"'Cause Lucy told me to protect the house."

"Well you're not doing a good job if I was able to break in." Natsu said laughing.

"I-I-it's only because I don't have powers or I would have stopped you!" Dylan yelled, his cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

"Okay okay calm down kid I'm joking with you." Natsu said still snickering.

"Stop laughing at me!" Dylan shouted running at Natsu making his hands into fists pounding them on Natsu's chest.

"Hey now calm down buddy." Natsu said grabbing hold of Dylan's fists.

"I'm not your buddy!" Dylan shouted his voice cracking. He felt like crying. He couldn't protect the house like Lucy asked him to and now he was defeated by Lucy's partner. He had wanted to beat up Natsu for shouting at Lucy at the guild that afternoon. If they were supposed to be partners then he shouldn't had shouted at her at least that's what he thought. Tears started to fall.

"Whoa why are you crying?" Natsu asked. He let go of Dylan's hands thinking that his grip was hurting him.

"I'm not strong enough to protect Lucy." Dylan said trying to wipe the tears away. "I couldn't protect the house."

"That's no reason to cry." Natsu said feeling like it was his fault for Dylan's sadness. "Besides no one can really protect Lucy's house from me." He laughed though Dylan's mood didn't seem to change. Natsu frowned placing his hand on Dylan's head. He looked up. "You did your best okay so stop crying." Natsu gave him his trademark smile. Dylan was about to say something until a loud slam was heard behind him. He didn't get the chance to look behind him since Natsu still have his hand on his head but it sounded like it came from the washroom. Dylan watched as Natsu's smile faded into a look of sheer horror.

"Luce h-h-hows i-it g-g-oing?"She walked out of the washroom fully dressed with her hair tied up into a low ponytail and a very angry and annoyed look on her face.

"Natsu what are you doing in my house unannounced again?" Lucy asked a vain appearing in her forehead.

"No no, you got it all wrong he let me in." He said quickly. "Right you let me in?"

Dylan stared at Natsu his eyes pleading for help. He smiled before turning to Lucy. "No he broke in by burning the window." Dylan said pointing to the burnt window. "And his cat is eating the food in the fridge."

A squeak came from Natsu's mouth when he saw the twitch in Lucy's forehead become bigger. Dylan moved away from Natsu feeling a bit proud of himself.

_"That'll teach him about yelling at Lucy."_ He thought.

"Natsu you have three seconds to get out of my house before I beat you senseless." Lucy said moving closer to Natsu. "One."

"Happy let's move!" Natsu yelled scrambling to the window.

"Two."

"Aye Sir!" Happy said flying through the window after Natsu carrying a loaf of bread.

After the two left Lucy let out a sigh. "What am I going to do with those two?" She turned to Dylan. "Thanks for watching the house though I know how difficult those two can be."

"I didn't really do anything though."

"No you did. You shouldn't put yourself down so much Dylan you got a lot of potential." Lucy said throwing the blankets back.

"You really think so?"

"Of course!" Lucy answered smiling. "Now let's give you a bath and get you into bed you got a long day tomorrow right?"

"Yes." Dylan said.

Ten minutes later after Dylan finished bathing they hopped into bed. Dylan wiggled under the covers trying to get comfortable for sleep coming over him. He moved closer to Lucy resting his head on her shoulder enjoying the warmth she emitted.

"Night Lucy." He said before nodding off to sleep.

"Night Dylan. Sweet dreams."

**A/N: FINALLY FINISHED! PARTY! *dances* I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and Natsu made his first appearance! Don't worry from now on he's going to be around more often. So next time we get to see more of the guild members and hopefully Dylan can learn to like Natsu. Thank you for sticking with me and don't forgive REVIEW! Constructive Criticism is welcome too. Till next time 3!**


	4. Water Pranks and Air Tricks

**A/N: Wow everyone seems to like my story. (blushes) Thank you to all who have been reading and reviewing it gives me drive to write more. Sorry for the long wait but being in grade 13 sucks...intensely! Thanks to everyone who had been reviewing this story and special thanks to ShiningSteller, Chrys Stone, LiLyRoSe98 and PoeticNonsenseNinjaStyle who have been reviewing this story since the beginning. I love you all 3. Enjoy!**

The morning sun rose the next day shining through Lucy's window. Dylan snuggled closer to Lucy only to wake up soon after. He wiggled his way out from under Lucy's arm rubbing his eye as he hopped out of the bed walking over to the window. Sticking his fingers through the shades to let more light shine through, a smile appeared on his face as he ran back to the bed.

"Lucy! Lucy it's morning, time to go to the guild!" Dylan shouted nudging the sleeping Lucy roughly.

A grunt escaped Lucy's mouth as she turned over her back now facing Dylan. He puffed up his cheeks in annoyance. Lucy had promised that she would wake up early so that they could get breakfast at the guild and there she is sleeping away. Stomping his foot, Dylan tugged on Lucy's arm trying to wake her up. Another grunt escaped Lucy.

"Lucy wake up!" Dylan yelled louder.

"Urrgh what is it Dylan?" Lucy asked still lying down.

"You promised that we can go have breakfast at the guild today."

"I know but..." Lucy sat up to look at the clock. "It's only four o'clock Dylan we have lots of time."

"Oh..." Dylan looked down embarrassed at his mistake. "I was just so excited..."

Lucy sighed before slowly removing herself from her warm bed. "Okay let's go get dressed."

"Really!" Dylan asked his face shooting back up.

"Yeah an early breakfast is never a bad thing right?" She said smiling. "So go find something to..." Dylan scampered off to return with a full outfit consisting of a black pair of jeans and a dark red t-shirt in his hands. "Wear. When did you pick those out?"

"I woke up around twelve and picked it out then went back to bed." He answered smiling at his preparedness.

"Well then...I guess I should find some clothes while you go bathe." Lucy said moving over to her wardrobe.

"Okay!" Dylan shouted before running off towards the washroom.

Lucy shook her head. The boy had too much energy in the morning. She rummaged through her clothes pulling out a dark green miniskirt and a white tank top then walked over to her underwear drawer to grab a pair of matching pink and red polka dotted bra and panty.

"Wouldn't we be able to see that through your shirt Luce?" a voice asked from behind her.

Lucy jumped clutching her underwear to her chest. She turned to find Natsu relaxing on her bed and her windows wide open. He wore his usual smile as if he didn't almost get killed last night. Lucy let out a sigh trying to settle her heart. Lucy stuffed her underwear back in the drawer before facing Natsu again.

"Natsu why are you here?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked.

"Why are you in my house so early in the morning?" Lucy asked moving over to the kitchen pouring a glass of water for herself.

"I felt like walking with you to the guild." Natsu replied, spreading himself out on the bed.

"Oh," Lucy blushed. "Where is Happy by the way?" She asked walking back to sit next to Natsu. His cheeks puffed a bit before answering her.

"He left early this morning to go catch a fish for Carla or something."

"Aww is the great Natsu jealous?" Lucy teased poking him in his rib.

"Nah not really, and anyways I got you to keep me company." He said smiling up at her.

"Not for long if you keep breaking into my house." Lucy stated glancing at the second burnt hole in her window.

"That wasn't my fault." He muttered. Lucy gave him a hard glare. "Okay...maybe it was but it wouldn't have happen if that kid had let me in when I asked." Natsu added quickly.

"Really Natsu, blaming a kid who I told to watch the house for me."

"Well then it's your fault. You should have told him that I come through the window." Natsu said pointing an accusing finger at Lucy.

Lucy swatted away Natsu's finger. "Want to say that again?" Lucy asked rising an intimated eyebrow.

"Noooooo?" Natsu said attempting to shrink lower into the mattress.

"Good." Lucy said smiling.

The washroom door opened showing a fully dressed Dylan with his wavy hair sticking out in all directions. Natsu peered at the boy then broke out in laughter. Lucy nudged him hard in the stomach.

"GAH! Lucy what the hell?" Natsu yelled clutching his stomach.

"Natsu be nice." She said getting up to pick up the underwear she had put away earlier. Before entering the washroom, Lucy turned to give Natsu one last glare. "I mean it." She said before shutting the door behind her.

Natsu held a smile until the door shut then dropped it. He gave Dylan a very hard look causing him to shiver a bit.

"We meet again kid." Natsu said folding his fingers to form a triangle, a sinister grin on his face.

"Lucy told you to be nice." Dylan warned him, hoping that he was more afraid of getting in trouble with Lucy again.

"I am being nice." Natsu said, his smile growing wider. "For now."

Dylan shifted awkwardly on his heels as Natsu's stare intensified. He slowly made his way over to the kitchen – Natsu's eyes following him. Disappearing behind the wall Dylan attempted to calm down his nerves. He didn't want to show any hint of fear in front of Natsu but standing there while Natsu's predatory eyes watched his every move was not an option. Using the stepping stool, Dylan placed it in front of the sink that faced the living room to find that there was no Natsu in sight. A cough came from the entrance arch revealing Natsu – his menacing smile returning. Dylan gave a weak innocence smile but Natsu shook his head.

"That doesn't work on me kid." He said while drawing nearer to Dylan frozen location.

_ "Lucy please, hurry up and SAVE ME!"_ Dylan thought unable to move with Natsu's intensifying glare boring into him. The sounds of the washroom door unlocking answered his prayers with Lucy emerging dressed in a dark red fit and flare strapless dress with black embroidered roses at the hem. Her hair was let down waving at the ends from the wetness. She looked over at Natsu since at the angle she was standing Dylan could not be seen.

"Natsu where's Dylan?" She asked a hint of concern in her voice.

"I'm right here Lucy." Dylan said loudly jumping up and down on the stool.

A raised eyebrow. "So why are you two in the kitchen? I thought you wanted to have breakfast at the guild Dylan." Lucy asked now standing next to Natsu in the arch. She glanced at Natsu at the corner of her eye. "Natsu?"

"Natsu what?" He asked shocked that Lucy would accuse him so quickly. "I didn't do anything this time I swear it."

"Uh huh. Dylan you ready to go?" Lucy asked while reverting her attention back to him. Stepping down from the stool Dylan nodded and proceeds toward she front door taking his hat off the rack. Lucy and Natsu followed after. The walk to the guild was one of pure silence with the random awkward cough from Lucy every now and again. As they were leaving the apartment Dylan had squeezed his way in between Lucy and Natsu putting Natsu to stand on the outside. Natsu sneered at Dylan who only stuck his tongue out in return but before Natsu could retaliate Lucy stopped him with a stare. Natsu pointed to Dylan but Lucy shook her head. Dylan turned back at Natsu and smiled innocently.

_"I don't like this kid."_ Natsu thought.

After that the walk continued in silence until they pasted by the two men on the boat. "Morning Lucy!" One of them yelled from the boat waving at the trio. "Morning!" Lucy yelled back waving. Dylan seeing that Lucy was distracted took this chance to push Natsu's leg while he was balancing on his left leg. Natsu, unable to regain his balance, felled head first into the river. Dylan and Lucy jumped back in order to not get splashed by the water.

"Oh my God! Natsu!" Lucy yelled looking over the edge. Suddenly a hand reached up grabbing onto Lucy's ankle. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH! LET GO LET GO LET GO!" Lucy shrieked trying to unhook the strong grip on her ankle. Another hand popped up grabbing hold of the edge allowing Natsu to pull himself up with the help of Lucy. Natsu coughed up water before turning over on his back trying to breathe.

"Natsu are you okay? How in the world did you fall in?" Lucy asked kneeling down beside him.

"Bl...ame...the...kid..." Natsu struggled to say in between his shallow breathes.

"What?" Lucy asked not really making out what he had said.

"Never...mind..."

"Are you okay Mister Natsu?" Dylan asked standing off to the side his hands in his pockets – not looking at all worried. Natsu gave him one of his famous death glares from behind his wet bangs. Raising his arm wearily Natsu gave Dylan the one finger salute. A hard knock to the skull was his reward when Lucy saw it.

"Well since you're able to be rude then you're able to walk to the guild yourself!" Lucy said grabbing Dylan's hand and walking away in a huff. Dylan looked over his shoulder and gave Natsu a smug little wave.

"Hey boy! Are you okay?" One of the men yelled.

Natsu laid there thinking of every rotten word he knew that would describe this moment but the best he could come up with was...

**"FUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!"**

"Well next time don't stand so close to the edge!" The other man yelled.

OOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"I can't believe him!" Lucy yelled.

They had finally reached the guild and were sitting with Levy eating their breakfast while Lucy retold the whole event of the morning. She was still angry at Natsu for flipping Dylan off and everything. Dylan ate his blueberry pancakes quietly in between the two girls while Lucy ranted on. Lucy violently stabbed her egg with her fork before continuing.

"And then he had the nerve to give Dylan the finger for asking if he was alright! I mean what kind of person does that?" Lucy asked stuffing the piece of egg with force.

"Lu – chan I think you overreacted a bit though. I mean you left him...on the ground...gasping for air..." Levy said trying to calm Lucy down.

"You think so?" Lucy asked looking down at her mashed up plate of eggs. "Hmm I think I'm going to go get another plate." She said leaving the table with the plate in hand.

It was only after Lucy was out of ear shot that Levy looked at Dylan who acted like the hidden blueberry was the most interesting thing ever. She continued to stare at him until he caved and looked at her. Levy rested her head in her right palm waiting for Dylan to speak. When he didn't she sighed and faced him fully.

"So you're not going to tell me why you pushed Natsu into the river?"

"But I didn't push him in." Dylan stated.

"Come on Dylan I know you don't like Natsu but did you have to push him into the river?"

He shrugged. "I figured he could float."

"Funny." Levy said snickering a bit at his wit. "But let's not try to make the dragon slayer angry okay. Last thing you need is Natsu wanting revenge."

"Why is he that strong?" Dylan asked his voice sounding scared.

"Well he did blow up half a city..." Levy said remembering Master's face when he got the bill. "But don't worry I don't think Natsu would be that angry."

The sudden bang of the front doors being force opened said otherwise. Standing in the doorway was a furious Natsu still dripping wet from the river. His black eyes scanned the room much like a predator looking for its prey. Locking onto the blonde figure at the far end of the guild, he stomped over pasting Levy who hid her face behind her book. Once he pasted she glazed down at the cowering Dylan under the table.

"Yeah I think he's angry." She stated watching the two argue at the bar. "I think you should sneak away while you can buddy."

"Dylan!" Wendy stage whispered from the front doors. She motioned him over with frantic movements. Crawling under the table Dylan made his way over to Wendy slowly hoping that Natsu won't see sneaking away. Another quick glance at the arguing duo before Dylan sprinted towards Wendy grabbing her hand as he turned the corner they ran towards Fairy Hills. They continued running until they reach the base of Fairy Hills where they collapsed onto the soft green grass next to each other laughing hysterically.

"Why...did...we...run...here...?" Wendy asked between giggles.

"Be...cause...Nat...su..is...going...to...kill...me..." Dylan explained trying to capture his breath.

"What!" Wendy yelled sitting straight up. The laughter completely gone. "Why!"

"Yeeeeaah." Dylan said also sitting up slumping over a bit. "I may have...kind of...maybe...!"

A long blink. "Why did you do that?" Wendy asked staring wide-eyed at Dylan.

"Because...because I don't know! He was mean to Lucy and he breaks into her house without asking and and...he's just not nice." Dylan said huffing at the last past. Deep down he knew his reasons had no weight behind them but that was how he felt. He didn't want to explain himself to Wendy or Levy and especially **not** Lucy.

"Natsu-san isn't that bad. He does have his nice qualities and Lucy-san seems to enjoy his company." Wendy said quietly. She didn't really understand his hatred of Natsu but she hoped that maybe he would get to know Natsu better.

Dylan's face tighten a bit. _"She doesn't get it."_ He got onto his feet looking in the direction of the Fairy Hills' building. "Is that part of Fairy Tail?" He asked pointing at the guild's symbol on the building.

"Yes. That's where some of the girls of the guild and myself live." Wendy answered quickly. _"He's changing the subject."_

"Then where do the guys live?" He asked walking slowly towards the building.

"Umm I don't know. I never asked." She mumbled realizing how rude it made her sound. "Umm Dylan why are we walking towards the building? I thought you wanted to see my dragon slayer moves."

"Oh." Dylan stopped in his tracks causing Wendy to bump slightly into him. "I was just wondering what the inside looks like." He turned to her smiling a bit. "Okay time for dragon slayer magic!" He yelled pumping his fist into the air.

Wendy giggled and mimicked him. "Yeah!"

oOoOoOoOoOoOOoOoOoOo

Back at the guild, Natsu and Lucy were sitting with Erza and Gray who couldn't stop laughing at the retelling of what happen in the morning. Gray continued to slam the table in laughter while Erza wiped a tear from her cheek. Natsu, finally dried sat brooding over his so-called friends' reaction to his accident. Even Lucy had let out a snicker when he explained what should have happen.

"I'm telling you guys that kid was trying to kill me!" Natsu shouted, glaring intensely at Gray who was still laughing like a madman.

"Natsu I think you're being dramatic. There is no way Dylan would have pushed you into the river." Lucy said rolling her eyes at her partner.

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T LOOKING WHILE HE DID IT!"

"Oh God Natsu got beat by a kid." Gray said between laughs.

"Shut it stripper!" Natsu said sternly, throwing a peanut at Gray's face in anger.

"ARGH! That hit my eye you bastard!" Gray yelled clutching his eye.

"Natsu." Erza warned. Her eyes closed while taking a small bite from her strawberry yogurt.

"That's all I've been hearing lately!" Natsu threw up his arms in frustration. "Natsu be nice. Natsu don't come in unannounced. Natsu he's just a kid. Natsu. Natsu NATSU! I never thought I would hate my name so much."

Lucy shifted in her seat. She felt bad for always taking Dylan's side but she found it hard to believe that such a well mannered child would purposely push someone into a river. Erza noticing Lucy's troubled expression she cleared her throat making Natsu and Gray halt in their string of arguments.

"Well since Lucy is being with her babysitting job, why don't you find a job to keep you busy?" Erza purposed with a smug smile, mentally giving herself a pat on the back.

Scratching the bridge of his nose, Natsu thought about it. He did find a job that would need a week to complete which could be done by one person and it would get him away from the spawn of Satan for a while. _"But..."_ Natsu looked at Lucy. "Might as well. I can always use the extra money for rent." Adverting his eyes from Lucy to focus on the detail of the wood table.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Okay. So you told me about your healing and assisting magic what about your attack magic?" Dylan asked sitting crossed legged in front of a standing Wendy. She stood, fidgeting a little – she wasn't used to having someone's compete attention on her and the Dylan's big turquoise eyes watching her intensely wasn't helping.

"Umm I only have two attack moves..." Wendy mumbled while biting her fingernail. "They aren't that special."

"Doesn't matter I think like it." Dylan said giving her a little thumbs up as encouragement.

"Well the first one is called 'Sky Dragon's Roar'." Turning around Wendy breathed in the air around her; her cheeks expanding to their fullest. Letting out the contained air, the result was that of a small tornado. The blades of grass in front of her laid down flat because of the powerful blast. She smiled, happy with her control.

"WHOA! Wendy that was AWESOME!" Dylan shouted. "I loved how you went..." He sucks in air only to blow it out after. "Then a HUGE blast of air came out and the grass was like..." he dramatically falls to the ground on his back. "We bow to your awesomeness!"

A giggle escaped Wendy's lips. Dylan's reactions were always interesting - albeit a little weird at times. Dylan smiled. "So what is the other move? Is it as cool as your Sky Dragon Roar?"

"Well it's called..." Wendy began but was cut off by someone shouting in the background. Both kids turn to see in the distance a man walking over to them flailing his arms around.

"Who's that?" Dylan asked standing up in order to see the man better.

"I don't know but he appears angry."

As the man drew closer, his voice also grew louder. "You little ragamuffins! You destroyed my fields!"

Dylan tilted his head in confusion. "Is he talking to us?"

"When I get over there I'm gonna give you kids a whooping like you never felt before!" The man shouted.

"Yup he's talking to us. Time to run!" Dylan said grabbing Wendy's hand.

"GET BACK HERE YOU HOOLIGANS!" The man shouted as he chased after them.

"Keep running Wendy!"

They continued to run until the man ran out of breathe, collapsing on his butt and tiredly waving a fist at them. "Yeah...you...better...run...ragamuffins!" were his last words before the duo turned into an alleyway down the street. Seeing that the man was not chasing them anymore they slowed to a walk. The alleyway was dark despite it being about noon, the slow drip drops of water and scurrying sounds of pasting rodents were the only sounds to be heard. Moving closer to each other, both Wendy and Dylan increase the speed of their pace to that of a brisk walk.

"We have been doing a lot of running today huh?" Dylan said, hoping to cut the awkward tension. Wendy smiled a bit. "Though I kind of dragged you for some of it." An awkward laugh.

"It wasn't so bad. Though I wonder what Carla would say if she found out about what happened today." Wendy said, giggling a little.

"I say we don't tell them." Dylan purposed, excitement littering his voice.

"Why not?"

"We're friends right?"

"Yes."

"And friends share and keep secrets right?"

"Yeah."

"So then let's make this our secret!" He smiled. Wendy smiled back – she was happy that Dylan was able to open up to her so quickly based on the fact that he seemed to be so quiet before.

"Yeah!"

OOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Levy sat crossed at the table her head resting in the palm of her hand watching the entrance doors of Fairy Tail. Another sigh escaped her pursed mouth causing a certain metal studded dragon slayer to raise an eyebrow. Looking down at his cat, he gave a look of confusion which the cat responded in a shoulder shrug. He didn't know what was bothering the blue haired mage either. Levy sighed for a fourth time. Patherlily nudged Gajeel.

"Ask her what's wrong." He mouthed.

Gajeel rolled his eyes but cleared his throat all the same. Levy didn't even glance at his direction. Gajeel looked back at Patherlily shrugging in defeat. Patherlily lowered his eyes and pointed at Levy with a stern look on his face. Gajeel know that look it was the 'get your butt in gear' look. Sighing himself, Gajeel flicked Levy's arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Levy snapped, rubbing the place where Gajeel flicked her.

"You kept on sighing!"

"So you flick me?" Levy asked raising an eyebrow.

"Urgh never mind that. Why do you keep on sighing and staring at the doors?"

"I'm waiting for Dylan and Wendy to come back."

"Who's Dylan?" Patherlily asked.

"A boy who Lucy is babysitting as a job. He's so cute."

"So where did he and Wendy go?" Gajeel asked throwing a screw into his mouth.

"It's his first time being at a guild and Wendy offered to show him some dragon slayer moves."

Gajeel grunted. "Hopefully Wendy doesn't kill him."

"I don't think they're sparring Gajeel." Levy stated.

"Yes unlike you Wendy is not so violent with her friends." Patherlily teased.

"Funny." Gajeel said rolling his eyes at his feline companion.

"I thought it was." Levy added. She gave another glance at the doors to see Dylan and Wendy sneaking into the guild. "Dy –." Levy almost yelled until Dylan shook his head vigorously. Levy made the motion of zipping her mouth shut. Getting down on all fours Dylan crawled over to Levy while Wendy tried to walk with bursting into laughter. It was only when Dylan had safely made it to Levy's table did Wendy walk off snickering behind her hand.

"Is the coast clear?" Dylan whispered from beneath the table.

"Yeah you can come up." Levy respond after looking around.

"Hi Levy!" Dylan said hopping into the seat next to her.

"Hi Dylan." Levy said pulling the younger boy into a tight embrace.

"So this is Dylan?" Patherlily asked moving in closer to inspect the boy.

"Another talking cat?" Dylan looked up at Levy. "How many does this guild have?"

"Only three. My name is Patherlily." He held out his paw.

"Nice to meet you kitty." Dylan said shaking it.

"Please don't call me that."

"Oh and the moody looking guy in front of you is Gajeel – he's a dragon slayer like Wendy and Natsu." Levy stated. Gajeel grunted in response before throwing another screw into his mouth. Dylan gave a confused look towards Gajeel.

"What?" Gajeel grumbled.

"Should you really be eating metal? Isn't bad for you?"

"Kid I'm a _metal_ dragon slayer. I eat metal. Metal. Is. Good." He said, popping three more screws after.

"Does that mean that Wendy eats air?" Dylan asked leaning closer to the table.

"Yeah."

"So what does Natsu eat?"

"Fire."

"Doesn't that burn his tongue?" Dylan questioned.

"Shit kid why don't you go ask him!" Gajeel said. His tolerance completely gone.

"Gajeel. Language." Levy warned.

"What are you my wife or something?"

"Aww what an adorable family." Patherlily teased.

Dylan let out a small snicker but stopped when he saw the look that Gajeel was giving him. Levy and Patherlily shook their heads. _"He's not ready to be a parent."_ Levy patted Dylan's head.

"I think you better go find Lucy before Gajeel tries to eat you." Levy said moving the boy off her lap.

"I don't eat children."

"With that face anything is possible." Patherlily said grinning.

"Yeah I'm gonna go find Lucy. Bye Levy, Patherlily...Mister Gajeel." Dylan said over his shoulder. He manoeuvred his way around the other guild member's tables making sure not to bump into anyone. Stopping for a moment, Dylan looked over to where Reedus was sitting yesterday but saw no sign of the red haired artist. _"I wonder where he is."_ Pushing the thought to the side Dylan ran up to Lucy's table.

"Luuuucy! I'm back!"

"Oh hey!" Lucy said breaking her conversation with Gray. "So what did you think about Wendy's magic?"

"Pretty cool. She's pretty strong." He said taking the seat next to Lucy. Natsu rolled his eyes. Gray catching this leaned over Lucy's shoulder to tap Dylan.

"So I take it you're Dylan then. Name's Gray." He said smirking.

"Oh I know you! You're the one Lucy was telling me about. The one who uses ice magic right?" Dylan asked excited that he got to meet another one of Lucy's friends.

"Really what else has she told you about me?"

"That you have a stripping problem."

"Lucy seriously? All things _that's _what you tell him about?" Gray asked his ego a little bruised.

"Well look at the time we got to go do something." Lucy said quickly taking hold of Dylan's hand and walking quickly towards the guild door.

"LUCY GET BACK HERE!"

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Dylan, stay close to me okay." Lucy said over her shoulder to the younger boy.

After hightailing it out of Fairy Tail, Lucy remembered that they need to buy some groceries for dinner that night. She was making angel haired pasta with cumber salad and an apple pie for dessert. Dylan's mouth was already watering just from thinking about it. Taking hold of Lucy's dress, Dylan attempted to manoeuvre around the various amount of moving people walking by him. The market place was bustling with life; the voices of people haggling prices, the sounds of feet walking quickly across the cobblestone and the occasional string of curses – Lucy covered his ears when that happened. He had heard stories about the market places from the conversations he overheard between the workers but experiencing it was a little scary.

"Lucy how long are we going to be here?" Dylan shouted over the many voices.

"Not too long if I can find the woman who sells the correct pasta." Lucy said guiding them through the herds of people waiting in line for pizza. "Damn it we should have left the guild earlier. So many people today. Dylan are you okay back there? Dylan?" Lucy looked behind to find no sight of Dylan. "Dylan? OH MY GOD WHERE DID YOU GO!" Lucy shouted, looking in all directions in hopes of catching a glimpse of light green wavy hair under a beige hat. She grabbed the nearest person. "Have you seen a kid? He's about this tall and..."

"Sorry miss I haven't seen any kid." The man said pulling out of Lucy's grasp. The woman next to him sneered. "Aren't you a little young to be having kids anyways."

"He's not mine I'm babysitting him." Lucy said, still searching through the crowds to find him.

"You lost someone's kid. I wouldn't want you babysitting my kids." The woman remarked walking away with the man laughing.

Lucy didn't even hear the woman's last statement. She couldn't see Dylan anywhere; not his bright eyes, his hair or shy smile. _"Oh God. What is going through his head right now."_ Flashbacks of when she was younger living in her family's big mansion came to her. Sitting alone in her king size bed at night with no one to stay with her until she fell asleep or drive the monsters from her closet. She never once spoke those feelings of utter loneliness – at least not out loud anyways. She knew Dylan had a similar life; he was quiet because he hardly knew about the world beyond the walls. He wanted to open up more to see what was beyond his quiet life and she had given him that. _"He's probably scared." _She pushed her way through the hordes of people. _"I don't want him to be scared."_ Lucy was determined. _"Don't worry Dylan I'll find you."_

**A/N: DUM DUM DUUUUUUM! The plot deepens and I leave you with more questions and a cliff hanger. My exams are finished but I still need to finish a portfolio for college so the next chapters might be delayed. Don't worry I'm working on them. :D I hoped you all like it! Review and I'll give fairy cookies :D**


	5. We're Getting There

**A/N: Hi everyone I'm sorry for this being loooong overdue – school and portfolios were more important and it paid off. I got accepted! Woo! Also I got a huge list of Fairy Tail stories for you guys which I'm making time to write so look forward to that! Without further adieu chapter five!**

"Lucy! Lucy! Lucy help me!" Dylan shouted but it didn't matter, the massive mix of sounds and voices of the market drown him out. In a sea of legs and parcels Dylan tried his best to keep his balance as he was moved further and further away from Lucy. It all happened so quickly.

He was walking very close to Lucy while attempting to figure out how big the market really was until a group of teenage boys walked in front of him. Moving around them as fast as he could Dylan tried to catch back up with Lucy. She was still in sight but a little ways ahead of him.

"Lucy!" Dylan shouted reaching his hand out. "Wait!" He stopped mid-step in order to let a woman with a stroller past him. Standing on his tippy toes Dylan searched for his babysitter but could not locate the older girl.

"Lucy! LUUUUCCYYY!" He attempted again though his voice was sounding shill. _"She can't hear me!"_ Pushing his way through the wall of legs, Dylan's eyes shifted in every direction. "_I have to find her!"_ He was knocking into people's legs now – not caring about moving slowly between them. _"I have to find her!"_ If he had looked down he would have noticed the patches of reddening bruises that were turning his arms into a checkerboard. _"Don't leave me."_

"HEY WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING KID!"

"SLOW DOWN!"

"WHERE ARE HIS PARENTS?"

"MY MUFFINS!"

"_She's not here. Where can she be? She wouldn't leave me would she? She said we were friends."_

His breathing had become deep and uneven, every breath a struggle. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead and the sounds of his heartbeat pumping rapidly into his ear where pushed aside.

"_It's okay Dylan calm down. She's probably looking for you as well right? Yeah just stand in one place and she'll find you."_

It may not have been true but that was the only thing that keeping him from collapsing on the ground and crying. He didn't want to cry anymore – he was tired of being weak.

"_I can do it. I can be strong."_ Shifting his gaze to his left, Dylan caught sight of Lucy's red dress. "Lucy? Lucy!" Without thinking, he dash off towards her smiling.

"_I knew she wouldn't leave me behind! I just knew it!"_

"Lucy!" Latching onto her leg, Dylan pulled it into a tight embrace. "I finally found you..."

"Who the hell are you?" A light brown haired woman shouted peering down at Dylan.

"You're...you're not Lucy."

"I don't know who that is. Where are you parents, kid?"

"I can't talk to you. I have to find her." Dylan muttered slowly walking backwards away from the woman. _"Lucy might be near I have to..."_

"You're not going anywhere kid – not before you tell me where you're parents are. Having a kid like you walking around without supervision is just irresponsible." The woman said grabbing hold of Dylan's t-shirt.

"Let me go!" Slapping down hard on the woman's hand, Dylan broke free and ran; not caring that the lady was yelling at him or that passersby stopped to look at him. He needed to get away – away from the scary woman, away from the loud sounds, away from everything.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Please anyone have you seen a small boy with light green hair wearing a hat?" Lucy begged, grabbing at anyone who was near her.

"Lady get a hold of yourself!" A man shouted, yanking away from Lucy's cold grasp on his sleeve.

"You don't understand he's all alone," Her voice shook. "He's doesn't know this area and he's probably terrified. I was supposed to be watching over him but I lost him...please if you have seen him just," She tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. "Please tell me."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Feeling that he had lost the woman, Dylan ducked into an alleyway and ran far enough that the bustle of the market was muffled and distant. Slowing his sprint to a walk, he took in his new surroundings; it was surprisingly dark for the middle of the day and the smells of rotting food coming from the dark grey dumpster was quite strong. Holding his nose, Dylan carefully shuffled his way past the dumpster – trying not to step in any of the decaying fruit or what seemed to be meat. Scanning the ground for a dry place to sit, Dylan jumped out of the way as a large rat running out from the dumpster scurried by his feet. Clutching his shoulders, he shuffled away from the dumpster being wary in case more rats decide to venture out from it. Upon finding a pile of discarded boxes and collapsing them, he placed them on the cold pavement where the ground wasn't moist from whatever was leaking out from the dumpster or the water dripping down from the pipes above. Slowly plopping himself down, Dylan attempted to get comfortable – or as comfortable as one can in a dreary dark alleyway.

"_How did I get stuck here? I don't want to be here." _Huddling his legs up to his chest Dylan let out a sigh. _"If I only held onto Lucy's dress tighter then maybe...maybe I wouldn't be stuck here wondering if Lucy is going to find me. That is...if she wants to find me." _He shook the thought away. _"No. She wouldn't leave me. She said she's my friend and I believe in her. I haven't done anything to make her angry or I don't __**think**__ I have."_ Glazing up to the sky that peaked between the tall stone walls, Dylan sniffled. _"Lucy...I'm scared. I don't know where I am. What am I suppose to do if you don't find me before night falls? I don't like being so helpless – I wish I could be strong like you and everyone in Fairy Tail."_ Tears trickled down his cheeks, staining his shirt with the fallen droplets.

"Oi!"

A voice shouted from down the alleyway. Scrambling to his feet, Dylan looked for the something – anything – that he could use as a weapon to defend himself. Grabbing a discarded rotten tomato he readied himself to face the unknown intruder. The approaching figure came into view and was joined by a smaller one that was...flying?

"What are you doing here?" asked Natsu, confused as to why Dylan wasn't with Lucy and in an alleyway.

"N-Natsu! Why are you here?" Dylan gasped, dropping the tomato on the ground.

"I asked you first. Where's Lucy and why aren't you with her?" Granted Natsu was a little worried. There was no way that Lucy would have left him alone unless... "Did you run away from Lucy?"

"What? No! I...I..." His shoulder drooped. "I got separated from her while we were shopping and there were so much people and I didn't know where to go and there was this lady who was chasing me so I ran into here to get away and and and – "

"Dylan calm down." Happy said, patting the boy's shoulders.

"So you got lost huh?"

"Yeah...You gonna make fun of me now?" Dylan asked, awaiting the jeers that would defiantly follow.

"No." Natsu answered flatly. "Why would I do that?" Walking towards the opening, he sniffed the air a couple of times.

"What is he doing?" Dylan asked Happy.

"Natsu's sense of smell is much stronger than more humans so he's probably trying to track Lucy's scent from here." Happy clarified.

"Okay, she's not too far away from here." Natsu explained heading back to Dylan and Happy.

"She is? That's great! Let's go find her!" He shouted gleefully but was jerked back from Natsu grabbing his shirt's collar. "Gah! Wh-what are you doing?"

"We're not leaving until I get an apology from you for getting me in trouble with Lucy and for pushing me into the river. What did you think I would forget about that?"

"Kind of...sort of...maybe." Dylan mumbled not really meeting Natsu's eyes. "I'm sorry." He muttered reluctantly.

"For what?"

"For getting you in trouble with Lucy."

"Annnnd?" Natsu asked, smirking.

He glared at Natsu. "And for pushing you into the river... I guess." He said through his teeth.

Natsu would have commented on the 'I guess' part but decided against it. Might as well that this small victory and get the kid back to Lucy before it got too late.

"_She's probably worried sick about him. She should have just gone on a mission with me and Happy – none of this would be happening. I told her the kid is more trouble than he's worth but nooo she doesn't listen to me." _A mental eye roll followed.

"Naaatssu?" Happy said breaking through Natsu's thoughts. "Are we going to find Lucy now?"

"Yeah lets go." As he and Happy proceeded towards the entrance Natsu noticed that Dylan hadn't moved from his spot. "Oi what's the hold up?"

"Do...do we have to go back out there?"

"Well you want to go back to Lucy right?" Happy asked.

"Yeah...but...but what if I get lost again? I'm small so it would be hard to find me in a huge crowd - GAH!"

Slinging the small boy up over his shoulders, Natsu started heading in the direction that Lucy's scent was coming from. The constant kicks from Dylan where of no importance to him and neither where the stares he was getting from the pasting onlookers but the deafening high pitch screams were a different story.

"PUT ME DOWN YOU BIG DUMMY! I CAN WALK BY MYSELF! PUT. ME. DOWN! NATSUUUUUUUU! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME YOU BUTT HEAD! HAPPY TELL HIM TO PUT ME DOWN! PEOPLE ARE STARING AT US!"

"Would you SHUT UP?" Natsu yelled over his shoulder. His patience was already thin with this kid and having a squeaky voice ringing in his ears isn't helping. "You didn't want to get lost again and this way you won't. So stop complaining already."

Dylan huffed in defeat – he knew Natsu was right but being paraded through a crowd on someone's shoulder wasn't the coolest thing. Seeing Dylan's distress, Happy flew up to Natsu landing on his other shoulder.

"Natsuuuuu~ Maybe you should carry Dylan on top of your shoulders instead of slinging over one. This way people would stop looking at us weird." Happy suggested.

"Yeah! Listen to Happy!" Dylan cheered.

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Fine." Lifting Dylan up onto his shoulders, he held on to the boy's legs trying to tune out the small cheer of glee coming from Happy and Dylan. Concentrating on the direction of where Lucy's scent was coming from, Natsu was getting annoyed.

"_It's like she's everywhere! Damn it Lucy you couldn't stay in one place could ya? Gah! Where is this girl!"_ Natsu thought, his eyes shifting from side to side trying to find a trance of his partner. "Can you see her?" He asked no one in particular.

"Ahhh no sign of Lucy yet." Happy informed.

"How come you can't find her yet? I thought you could pick up her scent or something?" Dylan questioned.

"Her scent is everywhere but I can't pinpoint where she was last. She must have been searching everywhere for you I guess." Natsu answered, deciding to follow the nearest trail.

"Oh..." Dylan placed his chin on Natsu's head.

"Hey no point in getting depressed 'bout it. You're important to her so it makes sense that she would be looking everywhere for you." Natsu said casting his eyes up at the boy. "So just keep your eyes open for her."

Lifting his head back up, Dylan resumed his search for the blonde mage. As much as he disliked Natsu, he could see why Lucy hanged out with him. He may be rough and rude but he did care about his friends.

"_He's still a butthead though."_

Then out of the corner of his eye, Dylan saw the trademark blue ribbon that Lucy was known for.

"There! I found her!" He shouted, tapping Natsu's head.

"Really where?" Natsu asked turning his head in every direction to see his nakama.

"Over there, standing next to the big blue haired guy and the girl carrying the bag of potatoes." He explained, pointing in that direction.

"Okay hold on!" Natsu shouted, sprinting through the horde of people not caring about the obscurities they yelled at him. Dylan clung to Natsu's head for dear life while Happy flew up ahead of them glomping onto Lucy's shoulders.

"H-H-Happy?" Lucy gasped.

"Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuucy! We found you at last!" Happy cried.

"Huh? What do you mean 'we'?" Lucy asked petting the Exceed's head. Looking over Happy's head she saw Natsu charging at her with Dylan riding on his shoulders. "Natsu you found Dylan!" She shouted, reaching up to take Dylan off his shoulders.

"Yeah Happy and I bumped into him in an alleyway." He explained while handing her the boy from his shoulders. "He was crying though."

"I wasn't crying!" Dylan yelled.

"Yes you were." Natsu teased. "Snot was dripping down your nose and everything." He said while mimicking imaginary snot running down his nose. Happy giggled behind his hands.

"N-n-no! That's a lie you liar!" Dylan cried, swatting at the older boy.

"Natsu stop teasing him and Dylan don't hit Natsu." Lucy said, smiling at the fact that they seem to have solved their differences at least. "Wait! You were in an alleyway this whole time!"

"...Yes..." Dylan stuttered not used to hearing Lucy raise her voice at him.

"All by yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Dylan I am so sorry." She said holding him close. "I was looking everywhere for you I swear. This won't happen again I promise you."

Nuzzling into her shoulder he felt bad for haven't to doubt Lucy in the first place. Here she was frantically searching for him probably worried sick and all he did was wait and questioned her.

"_What kind of friend am I?"_ He couldn't help but think.

"Okay how about we go make dinner hm? We had a long day today." Lucy suggested hitching Dylan higher on her hip.

"Yup." Dylan replied smiling. The faster he got away from the crowded marketplace the better.

"Dinner?" Both Happy and Natsu's eyes lit up – they haven't had Lucy's cooking in a while and the prospect of a free meal was tempting.

Dylan shot them a disapproving look that went unnoticed.

"_They're just gonna invite themselves like that? Hmph I don't think Lucy would agree to – " _

"Let me guess you guys want to come along too? Might as well since you'll probably be waiting for me there by the time I get home." Lucy said while picking up the groceries.

The duo jumped with glee and Dylan could do nothing but stare in disbelief that he'll have to spend more time with Natsu. There was only so much of the dragon slayer that he could handle and now that Natsu 'saved' him, Dylan could only imagine how he would act now.

"_I wished I stayed in the alley."_

oOoOoOoOoOo

It was when thirty minutes after they had left the marketplace; the sky was already turning a dark shade of orange with greyish purple tones mixing it that something caught Lucy's attention. A small shabby bookstore wedged between a liquor shop and a rundown store. Its paint – the colour completely gone – cracked and peeling off, the windows were clouded from months of untouched dust and not to mention the piles of discarded plank wood leaning up against the bottom of the front window. Not something that someone would generally notice or even want to go near but it made Lucy stop in her tracks.

"Guys could I just stop in that bookshop for a minute?" Lucy asked pointing at the sad looking structure.

"Eh...Luce it doesn't look like its open...at all." Natsu frankly pointed out.

"Hmm well you never know sometimes the best bookstores are the ones that look scary to go in." She stated, leaving the two boys and Happy behind as she strolled up to the store. "Besides, what's the worst that can happen?" She said over her shoulder.

"Lu-Lu -Lucy isn't really g-g-going to go in th-h-h-ere is she?" Dylan asked Happy, the place scared him more than the alleyway.

"It seems so." Happy answered.

"Might as well follow her." Natsu muttered, following the stellar mage. Deep down he was curious as to see if the bookstore was open as well.

"H-h-hey! Wait for us!" Dylan shouted while running after the older boy with Happy trailing behind him.

Lucy smiled when she looked over her shoulder to see that Natsu, Dylan and Happy had followed her. She may have been putting up a brave front but she was kind of nervous as to what she might encounter if she had gone inside by herself. "Oh so you've decided to come with me huh?" She asked smugly.

Natsu shrugged. "Why not? It would be boring to just stand outside and wait since you take forever to come out of a store." He stated remembering all those times he and Happy were forced to sit through her many shopping adventures.

Lucy stuck out her tongue at Natsu before opening the front door. A slight tinkle of a silver bell rang to notify their entrance. Lucy poked her head through before entering completely. The store was nothing like the exterior made it up to be; the interior was filled with old looking light teal floral furniture, a dark burgundy coloured carpet lined the ground with low cone lights hanging from the ceiling, and dark wood bookshelves filled with assorted sizes and textures of books. Lucy stared totally engrossed with everything that she didn't notice the small black haired woman walking up behind her.

The woman tapped Lucy on the shoulder. "Excuse me."

"Gaaaaaaaaah!" Lucy shouted while tripping over one of the chair legs and landing on her bottom – her parcels landing on beside her. Behind her Natsu and Happy snickered behind their hands while Dylan ran up to stand beside Lucy.

"Oh sorry for scaring you dear," the woman said offering her hand to Lucy. "I didn't suspect customers so soon."

"I'm sorry." Lucy apologized softly, taking the woman's hand and steadying herself back on her feet. Dylan attempted to hand her the parcels back but they prove too heavy for him to lift. "Thanks Dylan." She said after taking them off his hands.

"It's no problem dear." The woman said patting Lucy gently on the shoulder. "Now what can I do you for this evening?"

"Nothing much we're just looking." Lucy said making her way over to where the romance novels were listed while Natsu and Happy went to look on their own. "I didn't know you read books Natsu."

"Not really we just like to look at the pictures and make up our own." Natsu replied picking up a book about insects, flipping the pages before putting it back on the shelf.

"Hmm. Well can you do me a favour and search for a book called 'Baby Blind Date'? I've been trying to find it everywhere but no one seems to have it in stock." Lucy asked running her fingers on the rows of books in front of her.

"What kind of book is that?" Natsu asked scrunching his eyebrows in confusion over his nakama's choice of readings.

"Don't give me that look!" She warned when Natsu. "The author has been given many rewards and it's their latest work."

"Lucy has weird tastes~" Happy said to Natsu.

"Seriously Luce is just weird all over huh?" Natsu replied.

"I can **hear** you, you know!" Lucy grumbled, clenching her fists.

"Soooo what was the title of that book again Luce?" Natsu said as he and Happy looked through the shelves above her.

After a few minutes Lucy sighed, she couldn't find any trace of the novel anywhere on the lower shelves. "Hey Natsu have you found anything yet?" She asked looking up.

"Nope. Happy?" Natsu answered slamming a book with a man and a woman on horses on the cover back into place.

"No sorry Lucy." Happy answered sadly, drifting down on Natsu's shoulder.

"It's okay Happy I'll find it some other time I guess. Thanks for helping guys." Lucy said down heartedly before going to check the rest of the store.

Natsu frown at his nakama's back. He never did like seeing Lucy sad for any reason. "Hey Happy make sure to remember the name of that book okay."

"Aye Natsu!" Happy saluted as Natsu walked to the other side of the store. "He her~" He snickered behind his paw.

Meanwhile, Dylan had stayed near the front by the woman who smiled in his direction. She stood no taller than Levy – give or take a few centimetres with an angular face and short black hair cut in a pixie style. She couldn't have been no older than thirty five but her face made her look youthful. The woman wore a pale purple halter dress that reaches her knees and a short sleeved grey jacket over it. She smiled at him – a very sweet and motherly kind of smile that reminded him much of his mother.

"What's your name little guy?" She asked, the smile never leaving her face.

"Dylan. What's yours?"

"Len. Nice to meet you." Len said extending her hand to him. "So are you looking for something or just borrowing like your friends over there?"

"No just waiting to go home." He said, rocking on his heels a bit.

"Are you sure? I've got a children's section if you want to check it out, just got in some new books too." She said, pointing to the colourful bookshelves behind him with animal shaped chairs beside them.

He shook his head then he remembered something. Dylan motioned Len to bend down to him.

"Would you have a black book that you can draw in? It has circles keeping it together and you can flip the pages over." He whispered.

Len smiled and nodded. "You mean a sketchbook? I have many in stock in different sizes and colours. Do you want me to go get some examples?" She whispered back.

"Not yet. Can I come back tomorrow?" Dylan whispered back.

Len nodded her head making Dylan grin from ear to ear. Lucy, dragging Natsu by his scarf raised an eyebrow at the whispering pair.

"What's all the whispering about?" Lucy asked, surprised to see Dylan making such quick friendships.

"Nothing just something between new friends right?" Len answered winking at the young boy.

"Right!" He cheered.

"Well okay then. We'll be on our way home now. Thank you for letting us look around your store." Lucy said.

"No problem. Come again whenever you want." Len said waving goodbye to the group.

"Wait," Dylan halted and turned to face Len again. "Are you gonna be open tomorrow too?"

"Yes." Len answered, smiling.

"Okay! Bye-bye Ms. Len!" Dylan said, waving goodbye.

After the group departed the shop, Len shook her head unable to control her giggling anymore. Natsu and Lucy may have not realized that Len was watching them from the corner of her eye while she was talking with Dylan. No matter how you looked at them they seemed like a cute couple.

"Even if they don't realize it now, they'll might later on." Len said before locking the shop doors.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Finally home." Lucy said upon opening the apartment door. "Gaaah!"

"Yo Lucy welcome home." A shirtless Gray said, relaxing on his couch.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?" Lucy shouted.

"Bathroom. Bathroom. Bathroom!" Dylan said, running past Lucy.

"Ice bucket? What are you doing here?" Natsu taunted.

"What are you the only one who can come unwelcomed into Lucy's house Flame Brain?"

"Who are you calling Flame Brain, Popsicle!" Natsu yelled, getting ready to strike.

"Wanna go Coal Head?"

"What is going on out here?" Erza boomed emerging from Lucy's bedroom.

"nothing." Natsu and Gray chimed, slinging their arms over each other.

"Erza what are you and Gray doing in my house unannounced? Again." Lucy asked while bringing the groceries to the kitchen.

Erza gave a quick glance at the boys before following Lucy in the kitchen. Lucy was busy searching through the cabinets for a bowl and pasta plates. Making herself useful Erza began unpacking the groceries.

"Are we not allowed to come over Lucy?"

A slight sigh escaped Lucy's mouth. "No that's not what I meant. I just wish you guys would knock or ask instead of coming through the window."

"But you let Natsu and Happy come and go without a problem don't you?" Erza teased.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked, filling the pot with water and starting on seasoning the meat. "I keep telling those two to not enter my house without me knowing, to not eat all my food, to not make a mess, to not sneak into my bed while I'm sleeping." A thud coming from the living room made the girls stop what they were doing.

"Lucy they broke something!" Dylan yelled.

"No we didn't!" the two mages cried.

Lucy shook her head in defeat. "I swear they're impossible."

"I could try to beat it out of them."

"I think you would had by now Erza." The blonde mage remarked chuckling.

"Very true." A warm smile graced Erza's face. "but I'm gonna see what those boys are up to." She said placing down the vegetables next to Lucy.

"Don't break my house while doing it." Lucy warned, smiling. A sly smirk was the only response.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Damn it! Why won't it back together?" Natsu cursed, knotting his brow in frustration. He was gently tapping two pieces of the shatter figure that Gray and him broke.

"Keep your voice down you idiot." Gray whispered harshly. "The last thing we need is for Lucy or worse Erza to see this."

"See what now?" Erza questioned, her arms crossed awaiting the answer.

"You're in trouble." Dylan giggled as the two boys switched between glaring at him and cowering from Erza's piercing stare.

"What have you two done now?"

"N-n-nothing. N-nothing at all right Gray old buddy old pal." Natsu squeaked out.

"Y-y-yup Natsu old chap. We were just...just... admiring this fine coffee table that Lucy has." He knocked on the table. "Do you hear that? Very sturdy wood. Finely crafted I say."

"Uh huh and I don't suppose that you guys are hiding anything behind your backs right?" Erza asked stepping closer to the crouching duo.

"N-n-nope. See?"Natsu said thrusting out his hands. "Nothing in my hands."

"Nothing in mine either." Gray added mimicking Natsu's gesture.

She peered down at them – she knew that they weren't telling the truth and beating it out of them would go against her promise to Lucy. So she turned to Dylan.

"Did they break something?"

Shifting his glaze at Natsu and Gray with their pleading eyes, Dylan felt it would be wrong to leave them to the mercy of Erza – whatever it may be. Relent he shook his head. A sigh escaped both Natsu and Gray but they sucked the air back when Erza's eyes were back on them. In an instant her blade was drawn and pointed at Natsu's nose.

"I'm tired of these games." The calmness of her voice completely disappeared. She had given the boys a chance to admit to whatever they had done but if they wish to play this way then so be it. "Show me what you two did. Now."

Slowly Natsu removed the pieces of glass from beneath his legs – in truth he was glad to remove them since they were poking at his skin. He didn't need to look to know that small trickles of blood were left behind.

"_Though that's not going to matter since Erza is going to kill me."_ Was the thought that accompanied the chill he felt watching Erza's eyes grown wider at the sight of what used to be a figure of book. _"Yup I'm dead."_

"Natsu. How...how did that happen?"

"I sort of bumped into the table and it broke." An awkward shrug.

"What just broke?" Lucy asked, holding a tray of drinks. "Natsu?"

"Your book figure." He answered showing her the pieces. "Sorry Luce."

Glancing over the piece of glass in Natsu's hands she placed the tray on the table behind him. "What's done is done no need to get mad over it." She said taking it from his hands being wary of the sharper shards. "It's easy to fix too."

"So you're not mad? At all?" Gray questioned.

"You guys have broken enough things in my house. I'm used to it" She said handing Erza and Dylan their drinks. "Besides dinner's ready."

Dinner went as smoothly as it usually went. Gray and Natsu started an eating contest as soon as they gotten their plates though Erza put an end to it. Happy sat on a cushion munching on the small bits of tuna that he asked Lucy to add. Dylan sat between Erza and Lucy eating silently while listening to Erza recapping some of the adventures and jobs that she and the team have gone on. He couldn't help but wish that maybe he could go with them during one though he had a feeling Lucy wouldn't allow it. After a few hours, Gray and Erza left only after Lucy promised to make dinner another time. Natsu and Happy had already crashed out on the couch by then.

"Should we wake them?" Dylan asked, staring at the back of Natsu's open mouth.

"Hmm? No let them sleep." Lucy said, moving Natsu's hair out of his face. "They deserve it for finding you today."

"I'm sorry." Dylan muttered, casting his eyes downwards.

"No no there's no need to be sorry. If anything I should be." Lucy frowned but replaced it quickly with a small smile. "It won't happen again I promise though I think it's time for us to go to bed too right?"

Dylan nodded. "Do you think he'll mind if I take Happy with me?" he asked pointing to the sleep cat that lay on Nastu's chest.

"I'm not sure better just leave him with Natsu for tonight okay?"

"Okay." He smiled trotting after her only to stop at the doorway and trot back to where Natsu was sleeping. "Thank you for finding me today. I guess you're not a mean butthead after all. Goodnight Natsu." With that he was off to the bedroom closing the door slowly behind him.

Natsu opened one of his eyes upon hearing the click of the closing door. He smirked chuckling to himself. "You're welcome kid. You're welcome."

**A/N: Once again very sorry for this being late. Hopefully you all enjoyed it. Now to roll off and plan future chapters. Do be do~~**


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